2006-09-26 11:18:19 · 12 answers · asked by Taelor W 1 in Health ➔ Other - Health
This is one of those old-school urban myths that every child has heard at one time or another. When you sneeze, water droplets fly out of your mouth at an explosive 200 miles-per-hour so it's not that much of a stretch to think that if you kept your eyes open, they might pop out of your skull.
If this were possible, it would make life very interesting, but it's an urban myth. Our eyes are actually very secure in their sockets and, as the sockets are made out of bone and not connected to your nasal passages, the pressure of a sneeze does not affect them. For the eye to pop out there would have to be a muscle behind the eyes that contracted when you sneeze. The only muscles in the eyes are positioned at the front of the socket--and those are firmly holding your eyeballs in place. It's also almost impossible to hold you eyelids open while you sneeze. They snap shut by reflex. This gives people the impression that your body is reacting to the sneeze by doing its best to keep your eyes firmly in place. In actuality, the reflex serves no purpose. It's just the way you're wired. The nerves serving the eyes and the nose are closely intertwined, and stimuli to one often trigger a response in the other. But you're better off worrying about what might be shooting out your nose than off your face.
The reason we sneeze is that an irritation in our nose causes a nerve to trigger. This nerve then stimulates a group of brain cells called the "sneezing center," which causes a whole host of things to happen: Our eyes and nose water, we sneeze, our heads jerk forward and our eyes close. These reflexes get rid of anything nasty that might be in our nose, and because they're all linked it's almost impossible to sneeze without doing them all. We don't know exactly why we blink when we sneeze…maybe it cleans dust out of the eyes or stops anything nastier getting in.
2006-09-26 11:26:33 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
It's supposed to be very dangerous to try and keep your eyes open. My friends have even gone so far as try and keep their eyes open during a sneeze with their fingers pushing the eyelids open. They actually got it right, but one girl's eye did pop out. Not completely, though. She just pushed it back in.
I wouldn't recommend it.
2006-09-26 11:21:05 · answer #2 · answered by Nicole 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
good question. No you cant sneeze with your eyes open.its a natural human reflex to close them and if you could.no your eyes wont pop out. I went to yahoo and typed in "sneezing with eyes open" and it says it there.read it its good reading
2006-09-26 11:24:52 · answer #3 · answered by solsbj 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
No and no especially that pop out one. Try it and see. We will all be amused to hear your results.
2006-09-26 11:19:58 · answer #4 · answered by Rich Z 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well you can but you'd be squinting to the point that no one would belive that you were able to look at stuff. they won't pop out eithter! Just'd be squinting
2006-09-27 14:27:45 · answer #5 · answered by Pooge 2000 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i think so, but dont think that your eyes will pop out
2006-09-26 11:19:42 · answer #6 · answered by Ted747 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it doesn't appear to be possible. Automatic reflex. They wouldn't pop out.
2006-09-26 11:22:01 · answer #7 · answered by sexychik1977 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Wow, I never heard of that. Get someone to try it and see what happens!
2006-09-26 11:27:42 · answer #8 · answered by ginarene71 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
unless you tape them open
2006-09-26 11:19:06 · answer #9 · answered by jahjahbinks 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes. Me and some friends tried it and now we are all blind. I knew we shouldn't do it, but we were all curious.
2006-09-26 11:20:15 · answer #10 · answered by coloklute 4 · 1⤊ 2⤋